The Absolute Unexpected
by NJN99
Summary: Ryoma echizen's elder sister Ryoku is back from USA and joined Seigaku, She is everyone's favourite, including Tezuka Kunimitsu's whom she considers her best friend. Wait! Tezuka buchou a girl's best friend? There's more-Things go completely unexpected when their feelings for each other somehow grip them by storm.Rated M for violence .TezukaXOC and RyoSaku too! Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**Dear readers I have started writing again, well, from the very top. Yes, my previous stories have been deleted, well, I deleted them, because I figured that I wrote very VERY "shitty" stuff 2 years ago at the age of 12. Now, since I have my holidays, I will probably be able to write a lot, but, after my school opens, I may not be able to write much. Thanks for reading…love, NUKRAT.**

"Mom, do I really need to go to Seigaku?" asked the brunette. "Cant I just take a break for the semester?"

"Ryoku, sweetheart, then you'd be considered a second year. Now listen. It is alright. Rest as much as you want and you need all of it as you are going to school tomorrow." Said the mom.

"Ok." Ryoku said before making a face and leaving and added, " Mom, I'll be up changing alright?"

Ryoku echizen. Eldest child of Nanjiroh and Rinko echizen. Elder sister to Ryoma echizen. Back from America to spend the rest of her days with her family. Long DARK brown hair often confused as black. Brown eyes. Shoulders a bit broader than usual girls and an athletic body. About to join Seishun Gauken as third year. Tennis player, just like the rest of the family.

Going up, she called out, "Ryoooommaaaa!, come on and help me with my luggaaagee!"

" YADDA" came the reply.

" Ok then, looks like I'll need to go up and give you a nice big hug right?" she threatened.

" Alright. Coming." He snorted.

As the younger sibling reluctantly came down and picked the heavy pieces of luggage up the stairs, ryoku couldn't help but notice that her brother looked almost the same as the first time she held him at the hospital. The same bangs, big BIG eyes and a small mouth. He had developed and grown some muscles on his forehand, obvious, as his passion for tennis.

Setting the luggages down on the floor of the bed room, Ryoma sighed.

"Thanks bro." ryoku said

"Hn" he replied.

The two never looked close they truly were. Ryoma was never the expressive type, but ryoku was the complete opposite- loud, over expressive,fun, stupid, humorous yet caring and kind. Kind of like the tom boy type, but she loved pink things. Well, she was obsessed with them. And all things made by Nike. The only thing that ever matched between them was their big mouth and arrogance.

" You know Rio, you haven't changed, like at all!"

" Don't call me that!" Ryoma said

"Yadda!" she mimicked.

The girl was tired and exhausted from her 16 hour journey across the pacific ocean. She liked travelling a lot, but it did get her tired. So she unpacked quickly and stacked her clothes neatly in the closet, before heading for a bath. After that, she set herself in an oversized t-shirt and shorts before slipping under the pink sheets on her bed that matched her pink walls and dozing off. After all she did have a big day tomorrow. She was going to Seigaku. The school that had won the Japanese nations titles, with her brother playing.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi there again! Well it seems that I really did not get any reviews though a lot of people are actually following this story and have also made the story their favourite... So it kinda sucks... Plz review!**

**Lotsa luv- Nukrat**

Ryoku woke up pretty early. She always did. Getting ready she noticed that ryoma probably didn't wake up yet. She tip toed to his room and slowly opened the door and slipped in.

She was about to shout RYOMA when she noticed how peacefully he slept. So she did not want to disturb him. Instead she walked over to his bed, muffled his hair before leaning down to kiss him and pull the quilt up to his chest.

She did not get to do this very often as her brother was always shy at the public display and array of affections that sometimes poured out of her.

Ryoma as usual was late at getting ready... And ryoku had no option but to wait for him...

On the way to school someone behind the siblings walking in a pair said, "Hey o chibi! Watcha doin' with a hot girl?"

Ryoma looked back to find Momoshiro smirking with Eiji, Oishi and Fuji beside him laughing, and kaidoh walking with kawamura and inui quietly behind the four.

He shot momoshiro a pair of bloodshot eyes and sternly said, "She's my sister senpai!"

"What? You really never told me that you had such a beautiful sister, o chibi, come on!" Remarked momoshiro.

The rest of the regulars were pretty much taken a back too.

"Yes, now you know, i have a sister and she used to live in the US and she's back now and STOP HITTING ON HER!" Ryoma said making his sister smirk.

It was Fuji who came forward with the very cordial greetings and said, "Hi! My name's Fuji syuuske, seigaku 3 rd year, you?"

"Oh! That's mean of me, i should have introduced myself before, anyways I'm Ryoku echizen, seigaku, third year too!"

She exclaimed,

"Thats' eiji, third year" pointed fuji. Eiji smiled cheekily at her before shaking her hands.

"Thats oishi third year and momoshiro second year." The two waved and smiled at their respective names.

"And behind then is Kaidoh second year, Inui and kawamura both third year." Finished fuji.

Kaidoh only looked at her before averting his eyes the other way. Inui was too absorbed in his book to respond so he just nodded lighlty and kawamura let off a shy smile scratching the back of his head with his hand.

"Thanks! But guess what? I know all about you! Lemme say it-

Momoshiro the foodie

Fuji the ladies man

Eiji the acrobat

Oishi the egg head

Kaidoh the snake

Inui the data collector

Kawamura the guy who gets on fire with a racket.

And Tez-u?"

She lifted her her heels so she could look behind the boys.

"Tezuka's our captain. He always goes to school early and he's the _perfectionist._"

Ryoku and fuji said the word together.

" i know all about you from your _o chibi_ right here!" Ryoku exclaimed."

" that's nice, but ryoku san, its getting pretty late, we should run."

"Its almost 8!" One of them screamed.

The guys began to jog and passed the siblings walking together. Ryoku noticed that momoshiro bumped into kaidoh and the both started a race shouting things like- _what did you say mamushi ?; i will terminate you!_

Ryoku was bored. So she decided to get in the race. She tightened her hair tie and said, "bye rio!" Before breaking off into a speed probably enough to surpass a bullet train. She whizzed past kaidoh and momoshiro so fast that it loosened kaidoh's green bandana, only to get glared by the regulars because of her speed.

"This is it right?" Ryoku asked pointing to the school building.

"Yup that's it Ryoku sama and man, you sure do run fast!" Exclaimed Momo.

"Che, trying to act all COOL" hissed kaidoh.

The two got into a fight again.

"Hey, I need to go to class its late. Besides, you know your class right? Ryuzaki sensei must have told you about it, after getting information from the school faculty? Said ryoma.

"Yup i do have it! I am in class 1. But, i really dont know where it is..." Ryoku answred.

"Dont worry Ryoku san! I know your class, I'll take you there, besides, it's right next to my class!" Eiji cheered.

"You know Ryoku san?" Fuji said. "You are in tezuka's class."

"Really, oh, i guess we could be good friends then." She said calmly.

After bidding the other regulars farewell, eiji and fuji guided ryoku to class.

When entering the class ryoku was asked to introduce herself which she did, and was asked to take a seat behind tezuka.

Ryoku had history class first. Then math, japanese, science and at last- English.

During the english class, the teacher had assigned a pair work.

"Dear students, the odd one from every row is to work with the person sitting behind them."

This meant ryoku working with tezuka. Ryoku calmly got up after hearing the instruction and positioned her chair the other way around so she would be facing tezuka.

"I'm Ryoku echizen , you?" She held out her hand.

"Tezuka kunimitsu." He said monotonously before shaking her hand lightly.

"Oh, you are the tennis captain... I see" she said nicely but calmly.

Tezuka was taken aback. He had not expected her to remain so composed after after hearing his name as he was used to shrieks and squeals.

"Then, i guess you would know my brother, Ryoma echizen?" She asked.

"Hn."he answered.

"Well then Tezuka san, let's get to work!" Ryoku said before her concentration dove into the copy and she began writing.

Tezuka took this opportunity to look at her.

_Hm, athletic body, plays tennis too. _He thought. _She seems very good in academics, considering that it was her first day and she did not fail to answer a single question asked by the teacher. She bites her nails. _He noticed after looking at her hands. _Brown eyes. Deep brown. No, um light brown. Wait, yes light brown. Scratch that, its deep brown. But now it looks light brow-... WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING ABOUT? _His thoughts ended when he realized that he had been staring at her for a long amount of time. But it was okay because he knew he would always be the one finishing first because, at least he was the best in english. He started writing.

After a while, ryoku lifted her head up and said,"done"

Upon hearing that the teacher came over and took a look at her copy before saying, "well. It seems like the first time someone has finished before tezuka and got it all right!"

The whole class seemed to look at her. Including tezuka, who gave her a short glance."ok then" the teacher said. "Please submit your pair's copy along with yours TOGATHER in the table before the class ends."

Tezuka just finished writing, abruptly got up and said," Ryoku san, I am done, you can submit your copy"And walked off in the direction towards the teachers table, before feeling a resistance. He looked back to see Ryoku was tugging at the hem of his shirt.

"Wait." She said before taking the copy out of his hands and opening it. He noticed that she erased something and wrote HAD instead of HAVE." You made a small error. I just corrected it." She said before she got up with her copy in her hand and walked infront of him. She then looked back, she noticed he was frozen in his spot and said, "Come on! Wont you submit your copy?" she asked.

"Hn" he said and regained his composure and walked behind her to the teacher's table.

Getting back to his seat, he looked at the girl in front of him. Now, her pony tail was facing him. So he gathered all the guts and said, "Ryoku san?"

The girl looked back. "Yes?" She asked cutely.

"Arigatou for correcting my error."

"Oh, dont worry, that's what friends do right?" She said.

"Friends?" He mumbled quietly.

"Oh, yeah, um sorry, i forgot. Well, friends?" she asked holding out her pinkie.

He didn't know what to do so he just nodded and wrapped his pinkie around hers.

The bell rang so she got up and said,"well, i guess its break. I need to go meet rio, o- i mean Ryoma, so bye!"

She quickly organized her bag and left.

He stared into space. He was always so uncomfortable with the opposite gender. How did he become friends with her?

_Oh well, _he thought. _I need to get it out of my head otherwise i wont be able to study in the library._

Then, he too left the room.

**Well? How was it? Hope you liked it and please review !**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, I am back with the new chapter, but the ultimate problem is that though ALOOT of people are reading this but no one is reviewing. Tell me… like really how does it feel that when 76 people are reading your story and really, no one reviews. Thanks to Lilting glamour for her critique!**

**luv- nukrat**

Ryoku met ryoma right after the bell had rung for the break time. Ryoma didn't really like walking around the campus during break like most did, so he decided to take his lunch and show his sister the roof top. At least he would get to sleep a little and besides, his sister and sakuno ryuzaki made the best sushis and assembled the best bento boxes around. Ryoma made sure that he made a detour around sakuno's class so that when sakuno gets out, she might be able to see where ryoma is headed and not have to run around the whole school campus.

"Hey, where are we going?" asked ryoku.

"To the roof." He replied.

"Oh, ok!" She sounded excited.

On reaching the roof, Ryoku took out the bento box that her mother had prepared for her and her brother.

"I love Mom's cooking. She's really the best!" she said, taking a sniff from the bento box.

"Hey, you don't cook that bad!" Ryoma said. "I really like your California rolls."

"Yeah, I noticed that, and besides it's the only thing close to western food that you like." She added.

The siblings started eating, and they really were not that good at sharing their food, coming in terms with sharing, they were not very good at it. After a few it's-mine-no-it's-mine-give-that-back, they managed to finish their lunch.

Just then, ryoku remembered that she had to visit the library for a book she wanted to borrow. The library was air conditioned so at least that would help with her vigorous sweating.

"Hey ryoma, I need to go to the library, so, I'll leave you here." She said.

"I think you already know the way to the library since it is just beside your class." He replied before lying down on the floor and closing his eyes.

"Bye!" she shouted!

As soon as she left the roof, a cute pigtail girl appeared, looking for ryoma. Finding ryoma asleep, she was about to leave when ryoma said, "What is it Ryuzaki?" she shuddered and was taken aback at his sudden call.

"N-nothing, I was just u-uh going t-to ask you to ha-have this." She replied.

Ryoma sat up from his position and quickly took the bento box that she was holding out. Before she could say anything, he started eating. A soft smile crept onto her face as sakuno realized that he was enjoying the food. She sat down next to him and eagerly watched him eat.

"Thanks. It was yummy" he said as he stood up and was about to leave.

"You are welcome, Ryoma-kun" she said before smiling.

"Hey_, Sakuno_,_" _he said, before pulling one of the girl's pigtails and slightly brushing his lips across her cheek.

"M-Mou! D-don't do th-that!" she said as he left.

"Che, Mada Mada Dane" was his reply.

Although she was a bit shocked it was not long before a smile was pasted on her lips and she murmured, "Thanks, Ryoma-kun."

On the other hand, ryoku was lost deep into the shelves of the library searching for a book that would make her day. She took a few books and thought that she would read their summaries once again before selecting the best one. She looked over a spot to sit and found an empty table with a person, who's back was faced towards her. She approached the brown haired person and said, "um, excuse me, is the seat taken?"

The boy looked back to find a familiar face.

"Oh, Tezuka-san!, looks like you are here studying, is that seat taken?" she asked inquisitively.

"No" was his serious reply.

"Ok, can I sit here if you don't mind?" she pointed toward the chair next to him.

"Yes"

"Thank you!" she whispered.

She sat down and began to scan the back cover of the books, going through some of their prefaces and introductions. Then, she came to the book that she had liked the most amongst the others and decided that she would borrow that. So, she began reading that.

Tezuka couldn't help but sniff in the floral smell that came from her. It was so refreshing. He looked over slightly and noticed that she was reading a classic- PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. He then turned to his own work and began scribbling something.

After a long while, ryoku looked away from the book and let out a sigh. She curiously looked over at the boy next to her and noticed that he had been struggling with writing something. She looked al little more into his copy to find that he was studying science.

"Can I help you with that?" she asked.

Tezuka looked at her and had no option but to say yes.

"Ryoku –san, I cannot solve this math from physics."

"Well, let me see." She said in an attentive mode.

She took his copy, read the question a few times before frowning and saying, "You know that force=mass x acceleration. Right?"

He nodded.

"Ok then. The question says that you need to find the acceleration while force and mass are given. So…" she scribbled the formula in his notebook and said, "If you bring the mass into the left hand side, then you get- force÷mass=acceleration. There! You have it!" she managed to talk as slow as possible.

"Oh, I see, thank you." Tezuka stated.

"any time!" she whispered.

Tezuka figured that he had done enough of physics and wanted a break from studying. He could not go outside because he knew that the fan girls would kill him. So he had no option but sitting there in the library. Since it was boring, he somehow decided that he would talk to Ryoku.

"You like reading books a lot" he said

"yes, what about you? She asked.

"I too enjoy them a lot." He replied.

"Sometimes I wish that Shakespeare was alive at this present time and he would write just a few more epic stories." She said staring into the abyss.

"well, that is a desire that I too share. May be, his writings would somewhat change the world, and probably make it a better place." He said.

"I know! Did you read the way he portrayed corruption in Macbeth?" as soon as the question came out of her, her eyes seemed to have a type of spark in them, and this change was noticed by Tezuka.

"Yes, truly…" he continued.

The two seemed to have an unending conversation full of literature, arts and writers. Sometimes after saying something, ryoku seemed to let out a smile, occasionally. That had put an unbelievable amount of pressure in Tezuka's heart to smile.

The bell had rung, marking the end of the break time. The two were still deep into their conversation as they walked to class. And sat down. As per her usual seat, ryoku sat infront of tezuka and turned around.

"It was nice talking to you Tezuka-kun, oh, I'm sorry I mean Tezuka-san!" she blurted out.

"Yes, you too Ryoku-kun" he replied.

She just smiled and turned to the front. She had with her, a type of aura that would compel anyone to talk to her and that aura had influenced tezuka as well. He just stared at the girl whose back was now turned towards him. He wanted to reach out and talk to her about books, writers, the world, herself, himself and so many other things that had just invaded his mind. But he just had to keep it low. He just could not afford to be victim to talking and mostly gossiping. That time, tezuka had realized that it actually took a lot of energy to resist having a fruitful conversation and that is why a lot of students usually got scolded by the teachers for talking.

It was tennis practice, after school. Ryoku had also joined the tennis team. She wanted to play, badly. It had been to long since she played an actual match against an actual contender. So, her thirst for a proper match was growing, and it would only be quenched if she played one of the regulars. Tezuka or Fuji to be exact. Why not ryoma? Because she was tired of beating him. The same old twist serve. Cool drive, drive a, drive b… old. Totally.

With the help of sakuno's despicable sense of directions, she reached the girls locker room, pretty late. It was mostly filled with volleyball players who were murmuring about something. Into one of the changing rooms she heard- "That newcomer has already started flirting with Tezuka-kun." One of them said. "Yeah, totally. I saw her and the way she was talking to him,OMG!"

She just laughed. She came out of the locker room with a pink and black tennis dress and matching tennis shoes. The murmurs of the girls had died down on sensing the presence of someone foreign in their volleyball team. Ryoku quickly packed all her things and went out. She had an equation with fangirls. That was- you disturb them, they disturb you. But if they disturbed her first, half of them probably would not be able to see the sun rise the next morning.

She walked onto the tennis court.

"Hey, Ryoku-chan!" shouted Fuji.

She just smiled and waved.

Momoshiro who had been sitting next to ryoma, had looked at him and said, "O-chibi, man your sister is pretty!"

*BANG* was the sound as Ryoma slammed his racquet into Momoshiro's head.

Ryoku walked up to the regulars and had a small chat with them. Ryoma was obviously quiet but Fuji, Kikamaru and Momoshiro talked the most.

It was not long before Ryuzaki sensei had arrived along with Tezuka.

"Okay regulars, assemble." The regulars formed a line which was almost straight. Ryoku just stood behind Ryoma. Her pink outfit was good enough to send the message that she was not a regular.

"Let me introduce you to Ryoku Echizen, she's Ryoma's elder sister." Ryuzaki sensei said.

"And Ryoku, starting from here, this is Tezuka, Kaidoh, Momosh…" she couldn't finish.

"Sensei! Don't worry I know all of them! I met them this morning and the way Ryoma had spoke about them, it seems that they all are my best friends!" she said, excited.

"Well, yes, we are!" Said Fuji.

"Any friend of O-chibi is a friend of ours!" Eiji said with a cheeky smile.

"Totally" Momoshiro joined.

"Aww! Thanks guys. You make me feel like I am home!" Ryoku said.

It seemed to her that it was kindergarten. She had made friends on the first day of school! How exciting.

It was not long before ryoku told Ryuzakik sensei that she wanted to play.

"Ok then" she said, lining up the regulars once more. "Who do you want to play?"

"Definitely not ryoma! I am tired of winning against him.

"What about, uh…. Ah… o… yes, Tezuka-san?" All heads turned to him.

"You won't play him." Came Ryoma's comment.

"I want to! It's been a long while since I had played someone strong!" Pleaded Ryoku.

"Yes, that is exactly why I won't let you play him." He said.

"Why exactly?" asked Oishi.

"I will tell you all later. Ryoku, if you so want to play someone at tezuka's level, you should try Fuji. He's very good." Said Ryuzaki sensei.

"Ok then! Let's get started!" Ryoku screamed.

It was a match to see. Ryoku had served a spin-less ball, so that Fuji would not be able to use the triple counters. But she did not know about Fuji's fourth counter and other counters. She had easily lost the reach of the ball. Aim of the ball and dominance over it. After a 0-3 score, which had taken not less than 7 minutes, ryoku stretched and said, "Alright! It is my turn!"

After that, Fuji syuuske, the genius was on the ground panting, sweating, about to collapse while the ball had landed just beside him and bounced twice.

"The Silent." She said. That was her specialty shot. The ball was hit in such a way that the direction was unpredictable and prior to its first bounce, it bounced the second time with a 3-4cm difference of the ground. It was hard to see on the player's position. But not from the referee's height which was now occupied by tezuka.

"Game, Set, Match- ryoku Echizen. 6-3!" tezuka shouted.

"No wonder she's O-chibi's sister!" Momoshiro said with his mouth agape.

"It seems that-82.6% that ryoku had Fuji's power overwhelmed and used it against him. The rest 16% seems to have Fuji running around the court." Inui said.

"Nope! You are wrong!, you see it is a 97% sure that I had Fuji had wasted too much power on his counters and could not run around the court. The rest 3% was his overwhelming power that I had used against him. You should check your calculations first before announcing it Inui-san." Ryoku corrected and wiped her face with a towel.

"Y-yes. How,h-how did you know?" Inui stumbled back.

"I am a data analyst myself!" Ryoku said in glee.

The other regulars seemed to be awed by the feat that they had seen today. In a usual match, Fuji would not be defeated until a tie breaker. But here, ryoku had terminated him.

Ryoku had walked over to Fuji and helped him up from lying down. "Here, some water would probably be good." She said.

"It was a good game!" Fuji said smiling.

"Yeah, Totally! We should play sometime soon!" Ryoku said.

"Okay, sure!" came his reply.

After a good run and rallying with each other, the regulars were done practicing.

"Ryoma, you should go home first, I will help clean the court."

"Ok Ryoku-chan. Be careful" Ryoma said.

When ryoku was done changing, cleaning the courts and talking to Ryuzaki sensei, she headed home. On her way, she found someone familiar.

"Hey, Tezuka-san! Wait up!"

"Hn." He replied.

The two began talking again about arts and literature. Tezuka was so into the conversation that he hadn't realized that he had followed Ryoku home.

"So I guess it's a bye for today" ryoku said to him.

"Hn." Came his only reply.

"Ok then, bye!" She said before patting him on the shoulder and walking into the gates of her house.

It was ok for tezuka because his house was just a few blocks away. But, he usually took a different route.

He was walking until someone said, " Looks like you got yourself a good friend there!"

It was Fuji.

"Aa, Fuji"

"You seem to like talking to her _a lot." _He said smiling_._

"Forty laps at practice tomorrow." Tezuka bellowed.

"Oh come on, I was just joking! Or is it for real?" Fuji said with a smirk.

"60 laps"

"how typical" Fuji replied.

**There. That was it. But its not fair. I want reviews! Oh come on, would it hurt you all to just write a few lines in critique? Btw- hope you liked it. And if I really don't get much reviews, I won't post the next chapters.**

**Lotsa luv- Nukrat**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey there readers! At least i did get a few reviews and critiques and that's enough for me! Thanks to**

*****_**GlaresThatKill-**_ **Its really nice to know that at least there are some people like me!**

_***NewMeat- **_**The reason Tezuka seems to be breaking character just a bit is because of Ryoku's contagious personality, that is still pretty much under construction... **

***Chivini**

***meslens**

***Linnea Farhen**

***Saphem**

***midori1218**

***Khrystalline**

***Kongo Isamu**

**For all your support!**

**Lotsa love -Nukrat**

It had been a couple of days since the girl had started school, on her returning home, her mother never ceased to greet her.

"Darling, how was school?" Asked Ryoku's mother.

"Oh it was great!but you know mother, Ryoma still does not let me play tennis with the team captain you know..." Ryoku replied with a sad tone.

"Sweetheart, you know exactly why he does not let you play. If you do I bet you know the seriousness of the consequence. Right? Okay, now go get changed I'll give you and Ryoma something nice to eat." Said in a motherly tone.

Ryoku just nodded and trodded upstairs wearily. Because of her weariness, she ceased to have a long conversation with her mother as she usually does.

After a bath and a scrumptious meal, the teenager headed to her room to complete her homework. She thought it was really easy, and so she skipped her math to complete her english homework. She liked english. She liked literature. It gave her comforting reveries. It made her feel as if everything was possible, as with words and feelings you can conquer the whole world. Even the slightest feeling felt could be comprehended into a thousand words and sentences. It was her best treasure, but, it came after her preference to tennis.

Like Ryoma, Ryoku had learnt tennis from a very young age. But, unlike her brother, it did not take her long to fall in love with it. For some reasons, she could not persuade tennis. The reasons were serious. That is why, she had to circumspect about who she played a match with.

She spent about half an hour finishing her english and japanese and it took her about 2 more hours to do math. She disliked arithmetic too much to find even the slightest of interest in it...

After completing those, she went straight to bed. She thought about her new day at school, Ryoma's team mates... Somehow, it was quite an oddity for her to learn that someone with such calm, quiet, mannered and stoic countenance could be the:

1. Student council president

2. Seigaku tennis team captain

3. Hearthrob of all the girls in school

4. Straight A student

The halt to her thoughts of the new people she met at school was caused by her eyes drooping over to close themselves and her body putting her to sleep. To her, even a short day could drain out all her energy reserves.

It is not amusing to wake up in the morning with your ears pumping with the sound of an alarm system. The girl's indignation towards early to bed and early to rise had only been formed recently due to the time differences between her present and past residence.

10 minutes was all it took her to get ready, brush her teeth and eat break fast.

But because of Ryoma, no matter how early she got up, she ended up at the school late.

Greeting the regulars, she hurried herself to class. To her relief she found out that the bell had not rung yet. Seeing Tezuka, she just smiled at him as a greeting and took the seat in front of him as per the seating arrangement. The teacher's absence and boredom had caused the girl to take out a book and start reading.

Tezuka, as usual had not taken any special notice to the girl's presence rather than nodding to return her smiley-greeting earlier.

The teacher's arrival had made the unseated, seated and the seated, straighten their backs. After a few Good-Morning-To-You-Too's, the teacher settled down to give instructions. On seeing Ryoku occupied with a book, the teacher called out,"Dear Ryoku, could you please put away that book?" The girl did not heed to that. So the teacher asked Tezuka, "Tezuka dear, could you please call Ryoku? She seems a bit carried way."

"Yes mistress." Came his monotonous reply.

"Ryoku san, the teacher is here." Tezuka said. Reflex had worked on him, causing him to put tap her shoulder with his index finger. Her realization was almost instantaneous. She immediately looked in front of her to notice the teacher and apologized.

The class was going smoothly for Tezuka, until his pen rolled off the table, turning the heads of almost all the girls. Then came the I-will-get-that-no-you-wont's... Thanks to the aura of the teacher, it seemed that the girls had calmed down. Oblivious to the teacher, who had just stared reading again, Ryoku had torn a small piece of paper, from her mauve shaded page and wrote something.

Then, she crumpled the paper and slowly reached back to feel Tezuka's table against her hand and dropped the paper.

The guy hated distractions. It made him feel almost angry, but due to his scruples, it compelled him to open the crumpled paper to see what it was.

_Thank you for calling me when the teacher came! -Ryoku._

He could mot figure out what to do in order to reply to her note. "Hm" came his reply, inaudible to the class, but audible to her only. He wanted to throw the note away but because of the inappropriate time, he stuffed it in his pant pocket.

The bell rang, marking the end of the 7th class and beginning of the 8th. The teacher did not delay his arrival, and came with a pile of books. On his instructions, the students each got up and took a book.

"You all are to read the story on page 24."

The class went smoothly, with everyone's attention cored to the books.

"40-15!" Shouted the umpire. Ryoku had just given a point to Momoshiro. The girl had never attempt to return any shots that she knew she could not return.

"Jack-knife!" Shouted Momo, aiming the ball at her.

"Che, Momo-kun, Mada Mada Dane" she replied and returned it with a zero shiki drop shot.

"Game, set match Ryoku echizen! 3-6!"

"Aw man! Better luck next time!" Said Momoshiro shaking hands with Ryoku.

"You got me panting! You know you have a lot of energy right? So play carefully! Your tennis is almost as reckless as you are. Just remember to use it at the most appropriate time! And that's it! Besides...the way you hit your Jack knife, you look pretty cute!" Ryoku said in a playful tone.

"Really?" Momo was now very proud...he drove his hands through his hair...

"Yup! And you're like my little brother! All nice and cute!" She replied, pulling his cheeks painfully.

Oishi and Eiji burst into laughter and Fuji just smiled. Ryoma had the You-have-a-long-way-to-go look on his face.

Ryoku walked over to the bench and wiped the sweat from her face with a towel. Inui came over, holding a glass of green substance.

"Hey...um...Inui san, what IS that?"

"A vegetable concoction, purely made to give you stamina, strength, protein and all the vitamins." Inui replied as he pushed his glass at the bridge of his nose.

"It looks horrible, and probably tastes as bad." Said she.

"Yes, and that is why I need your help to improve this. You see it is very nutritious, however, no one is able to consume it."

"Hmm... Well do you by any chance have sugar and salt and other ingredients?"

"Yes they are on the table there."

Ryoku went there and started mixing one with another and came up with a colorless solution. As soon as she as done make it, she found Tezuka who also, just finished instructing the team.

"Um Tezuka san?" Ryoku asked.

Tezuka just turned to face her as a reply.

"Could you please try this out? It is a replacement for Inui san's horrendous concoction."

Scruples were now the thing Tezuka hated the most. He wished that he could say no.

He took the cup from her and nodded and just drank a sip, holding his breath.

"Its good." He said nicely and to her surprise.

"Do you actually mean it or you don't want to upset me?" She said in a joke-ish way, frowning at him.

"No, it is good. I think we should drink this instead of Inui san's concoction as that tastes a bit too..."

Tezuka was careful not to insult or make anyone feel bad. A bad word from the captain meant a bullet in your heart. And Tezuka knew that well enough.

"Thanks a lot! It seems that you helped me a lot today!" With that Ryoku patted his back and looked at him right in the eye and smiled sweetly. Tezuka was a bit surprised but he had his ways of hiding his expressions... Ryoku ran off in the opposite direction and went on to talk with Inui about the concoction. The day ended with Tezuka blankly looking at the direction in which the girl left and thinking about what his mind was thinking of.


	5. Chapter 5

Ryoku came out of the doctor's chamber with a gloomy smile. She did not like medicine, especially tablets. She hated swallowing them. It put a very uncomfortable feeling down her throat. Walking out of the clinic, a familiar voice shouted, "Hey Ryoku san!" She looked to the source of the voice. She found Oishi waving at her and Tezuka with his usual stern expression and arms folded in. She smiled and walked towards them.

"So what brings you here Ryoku san?"

"Oh nothing, i just got a regular check up, you know the weather is very different from where I lived before, so yeah. What brings you two here?"

"Oh, Tezuka just got his wrist and arm checked." Answered Oishi.

"Hm, I see, so Tezuka san, how is it?" Ryoku asked curiously.

"The doctor said it is alright, and in a week I can play serious matches." Tezuka said gloomily.

"That's good news!" Ryoku said. She stopped to look at her watch. It was almost lunch time. She was thinking of going to some sushi place, probably Kawamura's, but she disliked the idea of her going alone.

"Um guys, its almost lunch time, would you like to go to some place to eat?"

She invited.

"Yeah, I think if it is okay with Tezuka here." Oishi said.

"Its fine." Replied Tezuka.

"Yay! Okay, lets go"

Oishi, Tezuka and Ryoku headed to a sushi place nearby. It would take a long time to reach Kawamura's.

Ryoku loved sashimi, so she had a full plate of those. Oishi and Tezuka both ordered the same thing, a mixed platter of sushi and sashimi.

"Alright, I am salivating! Let's start." Oishi was sure hungry.

Ryoku laughed a little and said, "Sure thing!"

Oishi and Tezuka chatted about a lot of things, while Tezuka mostly kept to himself, answering _yes _or _no_ whenever necessary.

Halfway into lunch and Oishi's phone rang.

After answering it, he just said, "Sorry guys, it is kind of important and I need to go."

"It's fine. Besides, I think I can keep Tezuka company, considering how silent he has been!" Ryoku winked at Tezuka after saying that.

The tennis captain knew a lot, but, unfortunately, he did not know how to respond to her reaction, so he just looked away. "I will meet you soon Oishi." The captain said.

"Okay then, bye!" replied Oishi.

The two were left in silence.

"You are not the very talking type are you?"

"I guess not." replied Tezuka on Ryoku's question.

"Ok, so um, except for tennis and reading, what do you enjoy?"

"Nature." He said simply.

"Really?Alright, there is a wonderful place I would like to show you, I will take you there someday."

"Hn." He said.

After finishing the meal, and a nice long chat with Tezuka, the two decided to go home. The route to their homes was the same, so they walked together.

"I really like talking to people, meeting people. And I guess that makes me talkative. Like too much talkative sometimes. I know you like solitariness, and silence, so I may have disturbed you a lot today." Ryoku said rather calmly.

"It's alright."

_And I really enjoyed it too._ He really wanted to say that but as usual, he did not talk too much. To anybody.

"Tezuka san, I would like to make a quick detour if you don't mind. You can take your way home if it is going late. It is a week end and you should be spending time with your family."

Tezuka was taken aback. He really did not expect for someone he had known for a few weeks to know what he did during weekends. Everyone thought he played tennis, or studied, but no one knew about his family life, except for Ryuzaki-sensei

"It is fine, I'll come with you." He replied.

"Aw! Thanks a lot! That is nice of you, and hey, don't worry it won't take more than two minutes." She said.

Instead of going home, they went to a small park. After the construction of a bigger park in the neighborhood, no one really visited the small old one.

As soon as Ryoku walked through the gates, a few cats, who were walking around, jumped out of the way. She walked in long strides, oblivious to whether Tezuka was behind her or not. She realized that, and looked back to say, "Come on!"

The patches of sunlight that escaped through the canopy, made her hair from brown to golden. Almost like she descended from the heavens. It was a treat for his eyes.

Tezuka followed her to a big tree. She reached up to a branch and grabbed something. When she brought it down, to his utter surprise, it was a bird's nest. In it were two young birds, which had probably hatched a few weeks ago. Ryoku took each one of the birds and held both of them in her hands. She then looked at Tezuka, approached him and said, "Here, hold one!"

The birds were so cute that Tezuka, slightly trembling hands took one from Ryoku. The bird tried to flutter its wings, to go away.

"Put a little pressure against its chest, it will calm it down and make it feel warm and safe." Ryoku informed.

He did exactly that and the bird stopped attempting to flee and snugly settled into the warmth of his hands. After holding it for a little while, he felt something beating against his hands. It was the bird's heartbeat. That made him feel something he felt rarely. It was love. Love for that little bird he was holding. He suddenly wanted to nourish the little darling with love and happiness and never let harm or evil into its path. He lifted his other free hand and used his thumb to caress its tiny head.

"Ok, we need to keep them back, it's almost dusk. Their parents should be back soon." Ryoku said softly, and then put her bird back in the nest.

"Hm." He replied by putting his one back too.

The girl then placed a piece of paper between the two birds and put bird seeds there. After placing the nest back to its original position, the two left.

On their way home, Tezuka was thinking of all the probable possibilities on how the girl would have found these birds, because he wanted to find one too.

"One day, I noticed a bird in my backyard that had a worm in its mouth. The same bird came back again with another worm. Now why would a bird feed twice in the same hour? It was not usual, so I followed the bird and discovered the nest the day before yesterday, and from since then, I come here almost every evening."

"That is nice." He replied.

The two walked together in complete silence, until Ryoku said, "Tezuka san, I guess its bye for today." He looked at her to realize that she was standing infront of her house.

"Good bye, Ryoku san."

"Okay then. And hey, take care of yourself alright?" She said.

"Hm." Was his reply.

Before she walked into the house, his mouth blabbered up a question that he had been wanting to ask.

"Ryoku san, can I ask you a question?"

Ryoku looked back and took a few steps toward Tezuka.

"Yes, sure I am all ears!" She replied.

"Well I was wondering how you knew that I met my family on weekends."

"Oh that? She giggled and then said, "Remember, I sat with you at library one day? Yup, that day I saw you were just doing homework, If you finish your homework at school, then what would you do at home? And I heard from Fuji-san that your mom lives a little far away, and you moved out to study at Seigaku. Besides, all brilliant people tend to be very family oriented.

"Hm, I see." He said simply.

"Tezuka san?" Ryoku asked again.

"Hm?"

"I like your shirt. It suits you. I think blue suits you alot."

"Thank you." He replied.

As the captain walked home, he looked down at his shirt. It was dark blue t-shirt with a dark blue collar which had two white white lines running across its hem and white buttons. He wore that with a pair if off white shorts. He wondered how a simple shirt can be rendered interesting. His attire made him think of hers. She had on a simple dark pink top with jeans and looked as usual.

Tezuka had never had the experience he had today. He never felt life beating against his hands like he had held the bird today. And he had never seen someone so caring as _her._


End file.
